It Costs How Much To Raise A Kid?

Every so often they come out with a number for how much money it takes to raise a child from age 0 to 18, and that number keeps going up.  Kids are expensive, so brace yourself for this amount.... Especially if you have more than one child.

I have three, and I just live in denial all the time and pretend that this number is not real.

The USDA says it takes $245,000 for a child born in 2013 to make it all the way to age 18.  That's a lot of diapers, food, clothes, school supplies, and softball registrations.  Parents know we're dishing out money every week for something kid-related.  And that quarter-of-a-million dollar figure probably doesn't include other people's kids, and all the birthday parties we have to buy gifts for.  What do kid-less people do with all their money?  You people are rich and you don't even know it.

Did finances factor in to your decision to have kids, or more than one kid?  I didn't think about money at all when it came to having kids, and now that they're 6, 4, and 2, I'll admit I have a lil sticker shock.  Parents love their kids and wouldn't trade them of course!  We just wish they could get jobs at age 5 and start paying some rent.  (Kidding, kidding!)

When I look my babies in the eye and kiss them on the forehead I want nothing more than for them to be safe and happy and healthy all their lives, and I'll do whatever I can to help make that happen.  Parents, I know you share that thought.  Kids are a sacrifice that we don't mind making because of that deep, inexplicable love that just happens once they arrive.  And that is, as they say, priceless.